Organization Redesign

Organizational restructuring, or, more fully, organizational redesign, is a commonly proposed solution for major organizational problems. It should only be considered after a thorough analysis of existing conditions and desired outcomes. If, in fact, redesign is an appropriate change technology, it should be approached thoughtfully and comprehensively, with attention to both structure and organizational processes. There are criteria for a good design of an organization and process criteria for a redesign process that could be followed in any redesign effort. This should be a broad, participative process for engaging many of the staff affected through structures such as a steering committee and design teams. Business process reengineering is a redesign strategy that has a very mixed, and probably overall negative, reputation. While some of its techniques can be used positively and ethically, applications of business process reengineering principles should be considered very thoughtfully. Ethical considerations are important when staff layoffs are considered.

Trapped in limbo – Academics' identity negotiation in conditions of perpetual liminality

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the experiences of permanent liminality of academics and the associated multidimensional processes of identity negotiation.Design/methodology/approachThe article draws upon a three-and-a-half-year at-home ethnography. The first author – as insider, participant and researcher – investigated the consequences of an organizational redesign that pushed members of a local university department into a situation of permanent liminality.FindingsThe paper describes how academics simultaneously followed multiple trajectories in their identity negotiation as a response to ongoing experiences of ambiguity, disorientation, powerlessness and loss of status.Practical implicationsManagement decisions in higher education institutions based on administrative concerns can have adverse effects for academics, particularly when such decisions disturb, complicate or even render impossible identification processes. University managers need to realize and to respond to the struggle of academics getting lost in an endless quest for defining who they are.Originality/valueThe paper highlights the dual character of identity negotiation in conditions of permanent liminality as unresolved identity work through simultaneous identification and dis-identification. It further shows the multidimensionality of this identity work and argues that identity negotiation as a response to perpetual liminality is informed by notions of struggle and notions of opportunity.

Rediseño organizacional basado en el enfoque por procesos en una empresa del sector del tabaco

La investigación que se presenta tiene como objetivo general estudiar el rediseño organizacional basado en el enfoque por procesos en una empresa del sector del tabaco. En el cumplimiento del objetivo se demuestran las limitaciones entre los procesos que intervienen en la cadena de suministro de una empresa productora y comercializadora de ese producto. Para la investigación se tomó el procedimiento de rediseño organizacional, aplicándose las seis (6) fases que propone el mismo y parte del Modelo General de la Organización, específicamente en análisis del flujo informativo de la empresa. El nivel de integración de los procesos que intervienen en la cadena de suministro de la empresa fue de 0,43 siendo este resultado valorado de bajo. Palabras clave: diseño organizacional; modelo general de la organización; cadena de suministro ABSTRACT In the research that is presented, the limitations between the processes that intervene in the supply chain of a production and marketing company in the tobacco sector are demonstrated. For the investigation, the Organizational Redesign Procedure was taken, applying the six (6) phases proposed by the same and part of the General Model of the Organization, specifically in the analysis of the company’s information flow. The level of integration of the processes involved in the company’s supply chain it was 0.43, this result being valued as low. Keywords: organizational design; general model of the organization; supply chain

Big data and HR analytics in the digital era

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to focus on how the HR function takes advantage of human resource analytics (HRA), including big data (BD), and discuss factors hindering HRA and data utilization. Moreover, the authors discuss the implications of the HRA-induced role transformation of the human resource (HR) function. Design/methodology/approach This is an explorative case study based on qualitative interviews in nine leading Finnish companies. Findings The results indicate that both technical and human obstacles, operating with very basic HR processes and traditional information systems and poor data quality, hinder adoption of advanced HRA. This, combined with lacking skills in analytics and business understanding, inability to go beyond reporting, misconceptions related to BD and traditional compliance-oriented HR culture pose further challenges for the data analytics capacity and business partner role of the HR function. Senior executives expect no significant advancements of HRA, while HR professionals saw potential value in BD, although skepticism was not uncommon. The results point toward a need for increased cooperation with data analysts and HR professionals in provision and understanding the HR-related data for business-related decision making. Furthermore, cultural change and organizational redesign may be called for, in addition to overcoming technological obstacles related to BD, for it to have an impact on HR practices. HRA utilization and role transition of the HR function seem closely related and this transformation can be mutually reinforcing. Originality/value This study provides and theorizes explorative data on HRA within a group of some of the largest Finnish companies, pointing toward an immature state of the art in BD and HRA utilization and there being a relationship between HRA and the role transition of the HR function in organizations.

THE REFORMS IN THE SYSTEM OF EDUCATION AT THE PERIOD 2004-2014

The system of education must ensure an ongoing reform and development and this paper aims to analyze these changes after the Ohrid Framework agreement. Although this document was a political agreement it impacted the organization in the system of education largely. In the first part the paper analyzes the need for decentralization of power in the country for the sake of being closer to local communities and also improving services in this regard. The changes were presented in two levels. The first level was an organizational redesign of the service in regard to number of schools in the country. In order to better manage the process, the Ministry of Education established two units: the legal unit and the analytical unit. The urgent challenge for the development of this process has to do with the fact that only in its primary education Macedonia had about 340 primary schools that function as special legal units and therefore the centralized management created the “Black Box” effect according to which only educational units or school heads close to the Ministry of Education could gain privileges or adequate support. A significant legal step was that the decentralization process which did not recognize only the direct delegation of competences from the central to local government, but engaged the school councils, parents council as well as a third party in the process of decision making in the local schools. These decision-making bodies could have a say in the design of the school budgets as well as the selection of the school principals in cooperation with the mayors of the towns. How this was implemented could be a different topic for discussion in another occasion, however, this paper aims to identify key reforms in the educational process in the period of 2004 – 2014. The analyses will include a number of laws before the 2004 period that have impacted the process. It started legal reforms in 2002 with the adoption of the law on self-government and associated with the Law on Financing the Local Self-government in 2004, and a number of amendments on the Law on primary and secondary education in 2004 again.

Reformer i UH-sektoren. Det muliges kunst

Public sector reform tends to harbour competing ambitions, problems and solutions. Reforms in higher education policy are no exception. They are often multi-faceted phenomena, partly because higher education institutions are complex organizations with wide-ranging expectations and demands from a variety of stakeholders. This chapter argues that higher education institutions cannot ‘organize away’ competing objectives, but rather aim to create organizational designs which help complex institutions to live with complex reforms. The chapter examines the ‘Structural Reform’ in Norwegian higher education and how higher education institutions responded. Launched in April 2015, it resulted in a large-scale organizational redesign of the higher education landscape through merger processes between university colleges as well as between universities and university colleges. As with other reforms in higher education, the Structural Reform focused on several desirable but competing objectives such as high-quality education and research, regional development and world leading academic environments.